Mouthpiece for machines for packing cigarettes and like articles



C. T. HALL MOUTHPIECE FOR MACHINES FOR PACKING CIGARETTES AND LIKE ARTICLES 2 Sheds-S l Flled Dec 14 1949 M g P7 M454, M Fm 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOI? HALL MOUTHPIECE FOR MACHINES FOR PACKING CIGARETTES AND LIKE ARTICLES LOJMMM Mum w 3 l 5 w M 0w .0. m y d a .m M i Patented May 19, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOUTHPIE CE FOR MACHINE S- FOR'PAC'KI'N G CIGARETTES AND LIKE ARTICLES Application December 14, 1949, Serial-No.132',844 In Great Britain December 29, 1948 2 Claims,

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to mouthpieces for machines for packing cigarettes and like articles.

Cigarettes are generally packed in packets of rectangular cross-section but sometimes packets of other sections are used (c. g. trapezoids). The. present invention is for use with any such packets having sections comprising substantially flat sides.

In such machines it is usually the practice to insert articles into a packet, or to insert part of a box into another part by pushing the articles or box part through a mouth-piece or funnel. For convenience the term article will be used for either a single article such as the box part referred to or an assemblage of lose articles such as a batch of cigarettes. The mouthpiece is often constructed by fixing several thin spring blades to a plate or holder around an aperture in said holder corresponding approximately in size and shape with the cross-section of the batch, to be packed. Sometimes a more elaborate arrangement of hinged blades is used but in most cases at least one independent blade is used for each flat side of the article, though sometimes two blades are used for a single side of the article for reasons given in the next paragraph. Sometimes, for very thin packets, such as a single row cigarette packets blades are only provided for the broad sides of the batch.

In a few machines of the kind referred to the article is pushed through the mouthpiece by a reciprocating plunger in which case there is a single blade for each side of the packet but generally pushers mounted on an endless conveyor are used in which case one side has two blades separated by a narrow slot through which a narrow part or stem of the pusher can pass, the pusher being fixed to the conveyor by said narrow part.

When cigarettes, either bare or protected by a thin sheet of tinfoil or the like, are being inserted into a packet such as a paper cup, the blades are necessarily very thin, for the sake of flexibility for example, about .005" in thickness and sometimes as thin as .003. Consequently, the edges of the blades are almost sharp and after considerable wear are very sharp and easily tear the paper of the cigarettes or the foil at the corners of the packet section where, owing to the funnel action of the mouthpiece, the passing batch separates the blades and tends to swell through the space between them. In the case of cigarettes already contained in part of a box, such as in the case of cigarettes being packed in slide and shell cartons, the lower cigarettes are adequatelyprotected-by the material of the box part but those at the corners of the top O the box part or their foil wrapping may be damaged byshar-p edges of the mouthpiece blades.

According to the invention there is provided a mouthpiece for machines for packing cigarettes and like articles in packets having flat adjoining sides, comprising mouthpiece blades en aging two such adjoining sides and integrally constructed to include the corner between them and form a single corner member, the said member being flexibly mounted to move as necessary to afford passage for the batch passing through the mouthpiece. A mouthpiece for a rectan ular packet may comprise four such integrally constructed corner members suitably shaped for the passage of .pusherpieces on an endless conveyor through the mouthpiece. The flexible mounting may comprise two studs fix d the mouthpiece frame and passing through clearance holes in flanges formed by extensions of each blade of a member with springs surrounding the studs and compressed between the frame and the flanges whereby a limited degree of universal movement is, obtained.

The. invention will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Fi ure 1 is an elevation of a fragment of a cigarette packing machine embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a section of part of Figure 1 showing someparts omitted from that figure.

Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a diagram of a mouthpiece.

F gure 5 shows a stop device.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3 there is shown a mouthpiece generally indicated by the reference I, a box part or slide 2 which is filled with cigarettes and another box part or shell 3 into which the part 2 is to be inserted by passing it through the mouthpiece into the shell 3.

The upper part of the mouthpiece is formed in two parts 4A and 4B hereafter called corner members and separated by a narrow space. Thus each part can move independently and the slot is a further convenience as in some machines an endless conveyor provided with pushers is mounted above the mouthpiece though as shown a conveyor 5 carries pushers 6 along the bed 1 of the machine. In this case the bed has a slot 8, Figure 3 in it to accommodate the stem of the pusher. This slot is also visible in Figure 1 as the bed is broken away at the left hand end. The kind of conveyor used is not material to the invention except that if a conveyor i to pass, a slot must be available in that part of the mouthpiece. The upper mouthpiece blade 4C or 4D of each such part is made of fairly thick steel or the like (e. g. about .030" thick) and integral therewith is a blade, 4E or 4F respectively, for the adjacent side of the packet, the two parts of the whole device forming substantially a right angle between their planes and the whole constituting a corner member. The right angle is of course to suit the rectangular cross-section of the article but may be varied for other shapes. As seen from above, or from the sides, the blades slope from the inlet end to the outlet end of the mouthpiece so as to provide the tapering cross-section proper to a funnel. The two abovedescribed corner members 4A and 4B thus guide the batch on three sides and the remaining blade can, where an overhead conveyor is used, be a single substantially flat piece, as in the ease in question there is no risk of damage to the lower corners of the batch for the reasons given and thus the space between the bottom blade and the side blades is of no consequence.

In Figure 2 there is shown a construction for the lower blade arrangement. Two similar blades are used with a slot between them, one blade 9 being illustrated. It is fixed by a plate H) screwed in a recess in the bed I. This construction may also be used with an overhead conveyor as said conveyor may be used to remove the loaded box from the position shown in which case it is desirable that the pushers of the conveyor shall extend slightly below the level of the box part 2 so that the two parts are properly and squarely assembled before being carried away from the mouthpiece position.

In the case of an article either unprotected or only covered with delicate material such as tinfoil it is necessary to provide corner members at the lower corners in the same way as for the upper corners and in such a case a corner member would cover part of a broad side of the article and part of a narrow side thus providing a continuous surface at the corners. This construction is shown diagrammatically in Figure 4. There is necessarily a space between the two blades covering each side of the article but as the division occurs at the middle of the side there is not much risk of damage to the article as it passes through the mouthpiece.

As in any construction it is necessary for the blades to flex or give as the article passes through the mouthpiece, a corner member is at tached to its support by studs I l which are fixed to a holder or bracket I2 and pass through clearance holes made in flanges l3 formed almost at right angles to the main planes of the blade. The studs have heads [4 to retain the blades on the studs and between the blade flanges and the holder are suitable compression springs l5 surrounding the studs. With one stud to each blade and mounted near the angle between the blades the corner member has a spring controlled flexibility allowing universal movement to a limited degree which is ample for all conditions of operation. The heads of the studs are rounded on the edge adjoining the blade flanges so as to make the movement easier.

When the mouthpiece is to be used for inserting compressed cigarettes into a paper packet it may be advisable to limit the outward movement of the member by adding stop screws l8 Figure 5 to limit the expansion and prevent the member from tearing the corners.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A mouthpiece for machines for packing cigarettes and like articles in packets having flat adjoining sides, comprising mouthpiece blades engaging two such adjoining sides and integrally constructed to include the corner between them and form a single corner member, the said member being flexibly mounted to move as necessary to afford passage for an article passing through the mouthpiece, the flexible mounting for each corner member comprising a supporting frame, a pair of studs mounted on said frame and extending lengthwise of the mouthpiece, apertured ears formed on and extended laterally from said blades, one of said ears being freely received on each stud, and a spring on each stud compressed between the frame and the ear.

2. A mouthpiece as claimed in claim 1 comprising a stop for each corner member to limit the movement thereof, said stops being mounted on said frame.

CHARLES THOMAS HALL.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 219,718 Groom Sept. 16, 1879 1,132,032 Rejsek Mar. 16, 1915 2,192,982 Meendsen Mar. 12, 1940 2,317,292 Nash Apr. 20, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 251,115 Great Britain Apr. 29, 1926 

